1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to signal transmission and processing techniques, and more particularly, to a wearable signal input apparatus for a data processing system.
2. Description of Prior Art
Generally, it is always necessary for a data processing system such as desktop computer, portable computer, sever and mainframe computer to be equipped with input/output devices for human-machine interacting signals, for example, mouse, keyboard and display screen. The mouse was given its birth in 1964 and is mainly used to obtain a position input on X and Y axes, sometimes, a Z axis is additionally added. By combining a mouse with a keyboard and displaying contents such as a cursor as well as characters and graphics on a display screen, the input of the positions and characters information can be implemented conveniently.
Referring to FIG. 1, a general desktop computer used nowadays includes a host 110, a display screen 120 for displaying various information to a user, a mouse 130 and a keyboard 140 for implementing signal inputs. The mouse 130 and the keyboard 140 can be connected to the host 110 in a wired or wireless manner.
However, there are some disadvantages existing in the conventional signal input devices by observing the using procedure of the keyboard 140 and the mouse 130 by a user. The keyboard 140 and the mouse 130 can not simultaneously operate well, therefore, the user needs to move his hand away from the keyboard 140 to touch the mouse 130, and then performs a displacement signal input operation. Sometimes the distance of this movement near, but sometimes it is far. After the operation of the mouse 130 is finished, the user needs to move his hand back to the keyboard 140 from the mouse 130 during which the user has to firstly touch his index finger onto a positioning key of the keyboard 140 (generally, “F” and “J” keys), or with the direct aids of his eyes, directly find a desired key, and then the further character input operation is kept on going. In actual operations, the character input and the position input are frequently switched, which in turn requires the user to move his hand back and forth between the keyboard 140 and the mouse 130 frequently. However, it is a common case that sometimes the hand of the user fails to find the mouse so that the user has to move his eyes off the screen to find the mouse or the desired key. Therefore, a time break is produced due to the eyes off from screen during switching or hand moving and thus reduces the efficiency of the input operation.
Referring to FIG. 2, for a notebook or a portable computer, the keyboard 140 as well as a transforming track point 150 and a touch panel 160, etc., are all integrated in the host 111. Although the track point 150 is directly embedded into the keyboard 140, the distance of the hand's movement during the operation can be shortened. However, because two buttons (not shown) interoperating with the track point 150 is far from the keyboard, the thumb is required to interoperate for operating these buttons while the index finger operates the track point 150. Therefore, the efficiency of the input operation still needs to be improved. The touch panel 160 is far from the keyboard, and therefore, the fingers need to be completely moved off the keyboard 140 to operate on the touch panel 160 during switching, vise versa. As a result, the switching efficiency thereof is lower than that of the track point 150. Most users are get used to a common mouse, so when they are using the notebook computer, a mouse is additionally plugged in the computer for easy using. No matter which manner is adopted, the existing schemes will influence the switching efficiency.
Additionally, with the development for many years, various mice of different types are proposed in the prior art. For example, CN Patent Application No. 02137574.7 discloses a finger-wearing pressure induction type of an optical mouse; CN Patent No. 02229039.7 discloses a technique solution in which the wheel of the mouse is provided on a finger sleeve and is rotated by a thumb; in US Patent No. 2004012564, an X-Y input sensor is provided on a device like a glove; in US Patent No. 2003174124 and No. 2002101401, the buttons of the mouse are all located on one thumb, and the operations are performed with aids of other fingers; in U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,026, the buttons are positioned on joints of fingers; in US Patent No. 2003038783, the wheel is properly placed at the edge of the palm, and the buttons are provided on the index finger and the middle finger; in DE Patent No. 10040812, the sensors of the mouse are just positioned on two fingers.
However, in all the above or other similar patent applications, there is one disadvantage in common, that is, when designing the mouse, the key pressing operations of the keyboard are not collectively considered, and thus the efficiency of switching between the mouse and the keyboard inputs by a user can not be improved. For example, US Patent No. 2003174124 and No. 2002101401 can hardly implement the switching, since at lease one finger is completely occupied by the mouse such that it can not participate into the keyboard inputs; in DE Patent No. 10040812, a ring sensor is provided on a finger and expose the tip of the finger so that the normal keyboard input operation can be performed with this finger, and when moving off the keyboard, the mouse is just on the tip of the finger, so it is no need to take a while to find the mouse. However, in order to avoid malfunctions among the position input and the character input, the full palm has to be moved from the keyboard to the operation board to make the position input operation of the mouse, and therefore, the input efficiency thereof still needs to be improved; in U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,026, the user's hand can be only used as a mouse, and if it is used for the keyboard operation simultaneously, a malfunction will be prone to occur, because a position input malfunction will occur when characters are to be input, causing the cursor to be deviated from the original predetermined position.
One conventional input device can be found in CA Patent No. 2450494 (FIG. 3 of this application). The input device 200 includes track means 210 located on the tip of the index finger for generating a displacement signal; pressure plates 220 located on the middle finger and the ring finger for generating button signals; and a transmitter 230 for transmitting the displacement signal and the button signals to a computer, and further includes a scroll/page button 240 located at the edge of the index finger. The disadvantages thereof are as the follows. Firstly, the user's hand can only be used as a mouse, and if it is used for the keyboard operation simultaneously, a malfunction will be prone to occur, because when characters are to be input, the track means 210 is prone to generate a position input malfunction due to the movement of the index finger on the keyboard, thereby the cursor deviates from the original predetermined position. Secondly, when the middle finger and the ring finger press the keyboard, the pressure plates 220 are prone to generate fault mouse button signals. Thirdly, in the conventional mouse operation, the user gets used to manipulate the left button with his index finger and manipulate the right button with his middle finger, but in this patent, the pressure plates are positioned at the middle finger and the ring finger, which will result in malfunctions of the user, so that the working efficiency will be influenced. Finally, in this patent, the scroll/page button 240 positioned at the edge of the index finger is used to perform a page up/down operation, which is also distinct from the conventional wheel operation manner and thus the user will feel not familiar and inconvenient.